It all depends too what type of Uverse you have available. Given the full blown Uverse you should be able to get whatever speed packages they offer. However I am not served for full blown Uverse (it is intended to replace dsl at my location) and am offered only the lower tier packages and no phone. I wish I was two blocks over where they have the full blown Uverse packages.

If you are NOT in full U Verse service areas the best thing to do is go with good old fashioned DSL, you can get pretty good promo prices on .768, 1.5, 3, and 6mb plans and the lower plans have everyday low prices after the promo runs out, the service is absolutely reliable, as well in most locations.

With the new speed AT&T is rumored to be going to, I will have to look over the Charter vs U-verse decision.

Because of the type of DSL AT&T uses for Uverse service, ADSL2+, the service is limited to 24mbps down and 2mbps up at any time. This does not account for the fact that your TV streams will eat up some of that potential capacity, so, if you get the 24mbps(and its a big if, since current googling shows that unless your line run is less than 1000 feet to the vrad, and its in great shape, you will not get the full 24mbps, ever), if you have 2 HD streams running, there goes a full 10-12mbps of your speed. Remember, its still DSL, and they use an antiquated system, over rotting telephone lines, with a shitty service. There are very few FTTH customers on Uverse service, and still less that can actually get the full 24mbps. They would have to change their entire VRAD system from using ADSL2+ to something else if they wanted to support speed increases faster than 24mbps.

Let me clarify a little. I've actually held U-Verse in my hands. It was the last project I worked on before leaving AT&T.

The ISAM units in most (pretty much all) VRADs are capable of carrying VDSL or ADSL2+ out of the box. VDSL now seems to be the defacto choice when available. It's capable of around 52/16 Mbps, theoretically. In this scenario, there is bandwidth reserved for voice and video. This is often done without sacrificing internet bandwidth. ADSL2+ is still used in some areas for unknown reasons.

If you are further than 3 kft from the VRAD, the bandwidth starts to drop off quickly. Just like ancient DSL, it's very distance limited.FTTN locations for U-Verse and most HFC systems are actually about the same. Coax just does a much better job than twisted pair at moving data.

Keep in mind the cable company also has antiquated rotting coax and shitty service in a lot of places.

I just switched from U-Verse(18mb) to Charter(30mb) and I have to say I'm liking Charter more then I did U-Verse even if they a way to triple speeds for better price. I noticed as soon I switched the latency of all the game servers I play on dropped quite a bit, speeds are more consistent even during peak times.

One huge difference I noticed was YouTube. With U-Verse I would have to buffer 15 minutes just to play a clip couple minutes long on 480p vs Charter having it ready to play in seconds and able to stay ahead of the video without pause buffering at 720p.

its used as the main because a couple of factors. First and foremost, most of the markets AT&T Uverse service is in has no real competitors. They didnt upgrade markets with good cable MSOs because they couldnt match the speeds.

Second is, as you said, the huge distance constraint. From real world reviews and data that I can find, the top Uverse speed of 24mbps is only reached by the chosen few that are less than 700(run feet) feet to the vrad. with the age of most of the phone lines in this country, anything longer and speeds tank hardcore. Past 1500 feet, most people are hard pressed to get anything above 1.5mbps, and AT&T knows this. The other problem with DSL, is that even if they change it to ADSL, the speeds will not increase. If they get 3mbps on VDSL2+, they will get the same speeds(maybe slightly better) on ADSL as well. So, while speed increases might happen, it will be for a very select few that can actually use it, since there are very few places that are less than 700 run feet to the VRAD.

Because of the type of DSL AT&T uses for Uverse service, ADSL2+, the service is limited to 24mbps down and 2mbps up at any time. This does not account for the fact that your TV streams will eat up some of that potential capacity, so, if you get the 24mbps(and its a big if, since current googling shows that unless your line run is less than 1000 feet to the vrad, and its in great shape, you will not get the full 24mbps, ever)

I get very close to the full 24 Mbps down and 3Mbps up. I am at right around 1,900 feet out or a little more.No TV Service.Jamie